Official says fire at ICU in Egypt hospital kills 2 patients

<p>CAIRO &mdash; A fire broke out in an intensive care unit of an Egyptian hospital Wednesday, leaving at least two patients dead, an official said.</p>
<p>The fire erupted overnight at a government-run hospital in the Nile Delta city of Kafr el-Sheikh, said Ahmed el-Samahi, a spokesman for the Kafr el-Sheikh province. The hospital is treating those suffering from respiratory diseases. It was unclear if coronavirus patients were present in the ward.</p>
<p>He said there were 16 patients in the unit when the fire broke out at 2:30 a.m. local time. He said the two dead had been in critical condition. </p>
<p>Firefighters were able to put out the blaze, which was caused by an electric short-circuit, el-Samahi said.</p>
<p>Safety standards and fire regulations are poorly enforced in Egypt and have been linked to many deaths. A fire in December in an intensive care unit at a private hospital in Obour, an outlying district of the greater Cairo area, killed seven coronavirus patients.</p>
<p>Another fire in June last year in a private hospital in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria killed seven patients and injured one.</p>